Silence Kills : Speaking Out and Saving Lives

Written by physicians, caregivers, patients, and family members, the twelve essays collected in "Silence Kills" present a compelling, and often frightening, insider look at the lack of communication and understanding currently plaguing the American health care system.These stories explore a wide and complicated range of experiences - a doctor is pressured into sending a patient home from the emergency room but later must face his decision when the patient suddenly dies; a physician must deal with her self-doubt as she faces a malpractice lawsuit and must come to terms with the fact that even doctors are fallible and human; a woman fights for her mother's mental health and well-being against a system eager to over-medicate the elderly; and more - but all share one thing: a frustration with a system that hinders communication and often leads to unnecessary suffering.Inspired by groundbreaking research by VitalSmarts, a global leader in organizational performance and leadership, and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), and supported by the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, Lee Gutkind, editor and founder of Creative Nonfiction, has collected the essays in this volume - in the hope that these voices, speaking out, taking action and risks, will inspire others to make changes that will improve communication within our troubled health care system.